Friday, August 21, 2009

Traffic School Doodles - The Heartaches

I did an online traffic school the other day that promised to be "FAST EASY & FUN!" which was none of those. I had to read a thousand boring pages of the same rules written 50 different ways, and inbetween each lesson they make you wait for 15 minutes or so doing nothing...just watching the clock tick slowly by! Aaargh. The whole thing took 9 hours. In the dead times I drew doodles over my notes.Here's the main character from "The Heartaches". She's an ostracized "creative" just like you, probably. She draws, sings, plays guitar, collects dusty vintage toys and has imaginary friends.Here are some of the other characters. She has a hippie Dad who encourages her creative pursuits and lets her play his vinyl collection of classic rock LPs. She also has a cat who eats bugs, birds, bats, rats...and manages her band.Her Mom is the opposite of her Dad. She's a very serious career woman who hates all things creative and frivolous.That's the generic version of Mom above. Then I thought, "Who has the look of someone you wouldn't want to be your Mom?"And I remembered this horrible woman on HLN that has a news show that's all about abductions, murders and Michael Jackson. She's always yelling and pounding a gavel at her guests.I think I'll go with something like this for the Mom. I'll have her use the gavel too at the dinner table to keep order in the house.

I love this pitch! Theres something amazing about the way you draw kitties.

I'm currently enrolled in a 2 year animation coarse at a small local design college. I've been following your blog for a few months now and I'd like you to critique my progress. I'm about to start my second year and my goal is to be good enough to work for you by the time I graduate! =) I will be posting more work throughout the week. cartoon studies and sketches

I do wonder though, since they're polar opposites, what is it about the Mom that the Hippie Dad is attracted to? Was she a former Hippie that 'cleaned' herself up? Or does she have some other trait that attracts the Dad to her?

As for studies, I drew two pictures of Daffy from Duck Amuck, though I had some issues trying to connect the construction of a standing Daffy to a stretched one.

Mr. K., you realize of course that you could get in serious trouble for not paying attention in traffic school!

I solved the whole problem by not driving, which has probably saved so many lives on the roads that I ought to be given a medal. I was such a lousy driver for the entire four years that I did it, I was very lucky that I never ran over anyone (and they were even luckier). Putting me behind the wheel of a car was like giving a live hand grenade to a three-year-old. Or like the opening scene of a Mister Magoo cartoon... basically the same thing.

Just where is it engraved in stone that everyone in this country has to know how to drive a car? I've searched the Constitution from one end to the other (not easy, it's a large ship), and I can't find any such law.

My mother is an even worse driver than me, but she got a license anyway... because her brother was the DMV examiner who gave it to her. She once put her foot on the gas pedal rather than the brake, and drove her Dodge Dart right through the back wall of the garage, resulting in a $6,000 repair bill to the house. The car was unscratched, so was she, and don't ask me why.

No matter how good a driver you might be, the one in the next lane could be a complete moron like her.

Next time you're out on the road, think about that!

But then, I don't live in SoCal, where public transit is almost nonexistent. I get around pretty much on foot... or an a good day, both of them.

Can't wait for the book. And I like the Heartaches. You described her and it sounded just like my daughter. I'm the hippie (sort of) dad and my wife is the nazi. I love it.. Can't wait for someone to piock it up and make it.

Also, I have a rather pertinent question about copying drawings. When copying a drawing from another artist, should I strive to mimic every detail like an inbetweener? Or would it be better to apply my own corrections? I see benefits to both approaches, and this question keeps me awake at long hours.

An example would be this cover drawing. I chose to draw Porky's face as closely as I could to the original cover, but I could also have forced perspective on his left eye a little to make it seem rounder.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated! I'll keep doing these warm-ups every day.

I took one of those a year ago and cheated big time. The whole thing took about 2 hours.

Heres how you cheat for those interested. Copy and paste each web page of the instructional material into word for the particular section. If the test question asks about pedestrians for example, search the document for pedestrians and you'll find the answer.

John, I know you probebly has a lot to do, with your cartoon college blog and so on, and I haven't had the time to go deep in the stuff your posting, unfortunatly... But I would really appreciate if you'd make a comment on my stuff:)

Now, look at that, everybody cheats! If I had any ability to draw a storyboard, I'd like to collaborate with our esteemed (and pressed) Mr. K. on a script called, well— "Everybody Cheats!" No need for any new characters, Ren & Stimpy could star.

Ren is a Bernie Madoff-type shameless crook and "advisor", and Stimpy is his clueless "client." It's kind of nightmarish in the best Bob Clampett manner, so Ren is both the defense lawyer and the judge. There are many cuts back and forth between Ren the judge, Ren the lawyer, and a completely baffled Stimpy. During the whole meshugges, the theme music from "Perry Mason" is playing in the background.

Stimpy: "What am I doin' here? All I did was run over some dumb ol' cop with my car!"

Ren: "This is Traffic School! Obey, or you'll be sent to another school that's even worse."

Stimpy then falls apart like a Tex Avery character— there's nothing left at the end of the scene but his body parts scattered all over the floor. A little janitor like the one in the Mr. Peabody cartoons walks in and sweeps up the fragments and deposits them in a garbage can.

When the CA DMV first came up with the online option for traffic school, it was possible to complete the course in one hour. This got back to them, however, and they revamped the process to last at least eight hours, to better resemble punishment. If one gets more than one ticket within something like 18 months, the DMV makes the online course last no less than 12 hours! Pathological bureaucratic bottomfeeders.

With the relatively low-cost of computer animation tools and the zero cost to publish on YouTube, why couldn't your team create a few episodes of The Heartaches, publish them on YouTube, and get a buzz through word of mouth? The YouTube audience has grown exponentially, and you have a large enough fan base that could help spread the word.

The cat manager is awesome. I bet he always collects from evil club managers. I imagine he and the mom have a very contentious relationship, but she grudgingly respects his business acumen and the fact that he keeps the house bug and rodent free.

Would that harpyish lady happend to be Nancy Grace? She is damn terrible in every way, it seriously pains me if she is on a TV where I can't change the channel, usually an airport or something, I get all squirmy.

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.